Tool for straightening hinge straps on metal doors and door jambs

ABSTRACT

A TOOL FOR STRAIGHTENING HINGE STRAPS ON METAL DOOR JAMBS OR ON THE HEELS OF METAL DOORS, SAID TOOL HAVING AN APERTURED PLANAR MEMBER AND A MEMBER EXTENDING AT RIGHT ANGLES THEREFROM WHEREBY THE APERTURES IN THE PLANAR MEMBER ARE MATCHED WITH THE APERTURES OF THE STRAPS IN THE JAMB OR ON THE HEEL OF THE DOOR AND WHEREIN A HOLLOW PIPE MAY BE PLACED OVER THE EXTENDING MEMBER SO THAT THE TOOL CAN BE MANIPULATED SO AS TO MOVE THE HINGE STRAP IN THE JAMB OR HEEL IN A DESIRED DIRECTION TO PLACE THE STRAP INTO A DESIRED CONFIGURATION OR POSITION.

Oct. 12, 1971 R. M. PRICHARD TOOL FOR STRAIGHTENING HINGE STRAPS ONMETAL DOORS AND DOOR JAMBS Filed April 18, 1969 ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,611,784 TOOL FOR STRAIGHTENING HINGE STRAPS ON METAL DOORS ANDDOOR JAMBS Reuben M. Prichard, 7252 Landover Road, Landover, Md. 20785Filed Apr. 18, 1969, Ser. No. 817,311 Int. Cl. B21d 11/20 US. Cl. 72-4582 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tool for straightening hingestraps on metal door jambs or on the heels of metal doors, said toolhaving an apertured planar member and a member extending at right anglestherefrom whereby the apertures in the planar member are matched withthe apertures of the straps in the jamb or on the heel of the door andwherein a hollow pipe may be placed over the extending member so thatthe tool can be manipulated so as to move the hinge strap in the jamb orheel in a desired direction to place the strap into a desiredconfiguration or position.

The use of metal doors and door jambs, particularly in the commercial orindustrial fields, has become increasingly prevalent. Experience hasshown, however, that the jambs and the doors may arrive for installationwith the hinge attachment points on the jamb and on the door misalignedwith respect to one another. Also, after the doors have been hung,persons will often place obstructions between the heel of the door andthe door jamb at points adjacent to the hinge attachment areas in orderto keep the door open and these obstructions will often be forgotten sothat when someone attempts to force the door closed the hinge straps onthe heel of the door and on the door jamb are bent and misaligned in thevicinity of the hinges. The metal hinge straps of doors and jambs arealso often bent by being struck with carts, vehicles or other movableand heavy objects.

Therefore, the general purpose of this invention is to provide a simple,inexpensive and easily used tool which will enable the forceful movementor bending of misaligned straps on door heels or jambs to facilitate theproper mounting of the door on the jamb and the proper operation of thedoor once it has been so mounted.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a tool forstraightening metal straps in door jambs or in the heels of metal doors.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art as the disclosure is made in thefollowing description of preferred embodiments of the invention asillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates, in section, the tool of the invention mounted inplace on a door jamb hinge strap or door heel hinge strap; and

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of still another pre ferred embodimentof the invention.

With reference now to the drawings, wherein like reference charactersdesignate like or corresponding parts, there is shown in FIG. 1 a heavymetal plate or planar member which includes a plurality of apertures orscrew holes 12 which are so placed as to be matched with the aperturesin the metal straps of a door jamb or heel at the hinge points where thetool is to be utilized. Extending from the planar member 10 is a stud 14which is preferably located centrally of the planar member 10 and whichpreferably extends from the planar member at right angles thereto.However, as will be seen later the stud may be located oft-center on theplanar member where there are only three screw holes in the strap. Thestud or extending member 14 may be unusually elongated or a hollow pipehandle may be placed over the stud 14 in the use of the tool to gainmechanical advantage.

In operation of the tool of this invention the planar member 10 isplaced at the desired hinge area of the door jamb or door heel so thatthe apertures 12 of the member 10 are matched with the screw holes orapertures in the metal straps of the door jamb or door heel. This isbest illustrated in FIG. 2 wherein the tool is shown fastened in placeat a desired hinge area by means of the screws or other fastening means18. The metal door jamb or metal door heel 20 typically includesso-called metal straps 22 which may preferably be welded to the framestructure of the jamb or the heel at the hinge locations. Thus, thescrews 18 penetrate the planar member 10 and the strap 22. If the stud14 is of sufiicient elongation to provide the necessary mechanicaladvantage for the operator of the tool, the operator needs only tomanipulate the tool by grasping the stud 14. Manipulation by theoperator then causes the strap 22 to be moved in the desired directionso that the hinge location may be reoriented to the desired position orconfiguration. In this way, the strap may be bent and restored to itsproper alignment.

The tool may be manipulated in various ways, for example, by the use ofa hammer (not shown) on the end of the stud 14 so as to drive the strapback into the proper position. In the event that the length of the stud14 is of shorter configuration, an elongated and hollow pipe handle 16may be placed over the stud 14 in order to obtain the necessarymechanical advantage for the operator of the tool so that the strap canreadily be moved or bent into the proper position.

The stud 14 and the planar member 10 may be made of any desired metal orother type of material which has the necessary strength characteristics.The stud 14 and the member 10 may be integrally molded together or, inthe case of metals, the stud 14 may be welded to the plate 10. Inaddition, different plates 10 of varying sizes may be made withdifferent aperture locations to accommodate different screw holeconfigurations and variously sized hinges on doors and jambs. .Forexample, FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the invention which is used tostraighten straps having three screw holes and wherein the stud 14 islocated to the side of the member 10. Furthermore, the inventioncontemplates the use of a plate 10 which may have one or more patternsof apertures so that the plate 10 may be readily accommodated to variousscrew hole configurations peculiar to specific types of hinges. Morethan one set of apertures 12 could be placed in the plate 10 so that thetool could have at least two positions wherein the apertures would bematched with the screw holes of the strap on the jamb or door heel.

It should be understood that the foregoing disclosure relates to onlypreferred embodiments of the invention and that numerous modificationsor alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A tool for straightening hinge straps on metal door jambs or on heelsof metal doors of the type having a plurality of openings therethroughfor receiving screws therein, comprising a substantially flat metalplate having a plurality of openings therethrough, at least some ofwhich are alignable with said openings in a said strap when said plateis placed in contact with a said strap, said plate having a stud fixedto one side thereof and extending perpendicularly therefrom so that,when said plate is secured to a strap by screws inserted through saidaligned openings, said stud can be manipulated to move 3 said tool andsaid strap secured thereto in a desired direc- 2,937,549 5/ 1960 Shelby,Jr. 72-458 tion to place said strap in a desired configuration.3,332,274 7/ 1967 Dunster, Jr 72-458 2. The tool as claimed in claim 11n comblnation with FOREIGN PATENTS a hollow pipe handle, said handlebeing of a size to fit over said stud whereby said handle can bemanipulated to 5 126,453

1 d t move sald too an sald S lap MILTON s. MEHR, Primary Examiner10/1949 Sweden 72458 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,427,6039/1947 Higgins 81-177.2 UX 2,799,190 7/1957 Awot 72-458 US. Cl. X.R.

